Running around Uptown and through the streets of New Orleans on Sunday was just like any other run Meyer Friedman had when he was a student at Tulane 11 years ago – casual and relaxed – albeit with a slight difference.

"It was sort of like a quiet Sunday run out there, just with the luxury of an escort and a time truck," Friedman said. "I've run thousands of miles on St. Charles and the adjoining roads."

Friedman jumped to an early lead and easily outdistanced the field to claim the Rock N' Roll New Orleans Marathon in a time of 2:27.02. It was the fifth time in the last nine marathons in New Orleans that Friedman has won.

This is the third year the Rock N' Roll Marathon Series has been in New Orleans, prior to that the race was the Mardi Gras Marathon. Friedman won the race in 2005 and then had a streak from 2007-2009 where won. The last two years he finished second and third.

"The last two years, I've gone backwards," said Friedman, who lives in San Diego now. 'But I got a break today and I'll take it. It definitely adds to the excitement of coming back here."

Robbie Wade of San Antonio was second with a time of 2:33:03 and Jonathon Thomas of Baton Rouge was third at 2:35.13. The top finisher from New Orleans – discounting Friedman – was Mark Truxillo with a time of 2:46.32.

During the race Friedman noticed he started to take full control of the race early on, but he was able to keep an eye on Wade at the turns on Lakeshore Drive near Mile 17 and again at 20.

"On Lakeshore Drive there are two turnarounds that you can assess where the competition is and he was charging late," Friedman said. "But I don't know what happened when we turned back on Marconi."

Wade, a former marathon runner turned triathlete, was charging, but he had an issue at Mile 20.

"My legs kind of died right around 20, so it's par for the course," Wade said. "He (Friedman) was by himself the whole way, I wasn't sure what the gap was but I kept my pace pretty strong and then my legs tightened up."

Friedman was able to hold on to the lead despite the fact that he's just coming off a herniated disc injury in his back that he suffered four months ago.

"Recovering from that wasn't necessarily miraculous," Friedman said. "But running competitively, I did have to push the envelope on the training to be ready and was able to get enough in to be strong enough and put up a decent effort today."

Because of the injury, Friedman was off any records. The Louisiana record is 2:18.24.

"The time was certainly off my best, but maybe it's with realistic expectations that I'm coming off an injury," he said. "Early on I was cruising along and went through the half and I was satisfied with that time. It was the second half I just wanted to bear down and hold on."

Wade, on the other hand, had no issues with his time and the fact there was a gap between him and Friedman and the third-place Thomas made the race somewhat anticlimactic.

"I tried to go out pretty easy, and to be honest I'm a triathlete and this was planned to be just a training run. So it hurt a little bit more than I wanted," Wade said. "I'm happy with the time, the last mile or so, I was shutting down, because I was second and there was nowhere to go."